Doyenne Disconnect at the Spa

Unwind, relax and DIS-connect with Doyenne at The Edgewater Spa.

One night to come together with no agenda, no to-do list, no deadlines, no conference calls, just easy time to DIS-connect with Doyenne. Wine, hors d’ oeuvres and an Edgewater Spa gift bag included with each package.

Join us in an evening of getting to know Doyenne members and networking with other women professionals while enjoying food and beverages. Event is on Wednesday, November 9th from 6-7:30 PM (Schedule below)

This event is open to Doyenne Members as well as Community Members. Your ticket price includes entrance for 2 people, so bring a friend to come learn about Doyenne and meet other local women entrepreneurs.

Make sure you bring your business cards, flyers, brochures and a friend!

Featured Member:

SusieYounkle is Program Director for MERLIN Mentors, sponsored by University Research Park. In this role, she coordinates the organization’s 100+ volunteer mentors and dozens of active mentor teams that assist early-stage entrepreneurs. Susie also enjoys helping start and grow businesses, with a particular focus on the financial aspects of startups. She currently manages accounting for Murfie Music and The Forward Festival. Susie is actively involved with several non-profit organizations, including the Memorial Union Building Association (Finance Committee Chair), the Junior League of Madison (New Member Committee Chair), and the Madison Public Library Foundation (board member). Susie is a graduate of the Wisconsin School of Business with a degree in Finance and Marketing.

Schedule of Event:
6:00-6:30 Networking
6:30-7:00 Presentation from Featured Member
7:00-7:30 Networking

Join us in an evening of getting to know Doyenne members and networking with other women professionals while enjoying food and beverages. This event is open to Doyenne Members as well as Community Members. Your ticket price includes entrance for 2 people, so bring a friend to come learn about Doyenne and meet other local women entrepreneurs. Make sure you bring your business cards, flyers, brochures and a friend!

Miranda Rochol of Bags for Kids will speak about her experience as a entrepreneur and running a local non-profit supporting kids.

Schedule of Event:
6:00-6:30 Networking
6:30-7:00 Presentation from Featured Member
7:00-7:30 Networking

Tickets can be purchased using Paypal or select cheque to pay at the event via credit/debit card, check, or cash (please bring exact amount)

Continuing our series on Leaders & Influencers, we talk with attorney Jane Clark, founding partner at Clark & Gotzler, a Madison-based law firm specializing in human resources and employment law, founded in November 2015. Clients range from start-up businesses to multi-state employers in a range of industries as well as the non-profit sector.

My business partner, Mike Gotzler, and I have been working together for a number of years, and through a variety of interests and involvements with various businesses and organizations, we got the entrepreneurial bug. We also both have kids who are the same ages, with our oldest kids starting high school, so the time was right to try this so that our business could be established by the time they started college. Once you get that entrepreneurial bug, it’s very difficult to ignore!

We also felt that now more than any other time in recent memory, there’s just a really great culture of entrepreneurship in Madison. I’ve been active with the Doyenne Group [a local organization that promotes and develops women entrepreneurs] and have worked with start-ups in the past, and just to see how charged these clients are is really exciting. Mike and I felt that the services that we provide could fill a unique niche, and it gave us a reason to be excited about launching our firm.

What does Clark & Gotzler offer that other firms do not?

Mike and I have unique, respective backgrounds that really bring something different to the world of legal representation. We have private law firm experience, and have been in-house consumers of legal services and also advisors to clients. We’ve helped run organizations, and provided legal, managerial, executive, and advisory services. The other attorneys we’ve taken on since founding the firm also have this unique mix. Most law firm attorneys don’t have that in-house experience.

What’s the most important piece of legal advice you give to start-ups regarding human resources or employment law?

One of the most important pieces to have in place, especially as businesses are growing and starting to hire outside their group of friends or advisors, is an employee handbook. It’s important both for the leaders of the organization as well as the employees. This is especially true when businesses start expanding outside of the state, to have this road map for how to get things done, and to reflect your corporate and organizational culture. The employee handbook is not meant to be intimidating; it should be educational and reflect your voice as a company.

Any HR/employment-related books, blogs, or podcasts you recommend to new or established entrepreneurs?

There are so many resources out there, but not all of them are great. The best thing to do is to find one that reflects your voice and approach to business. Don’t jump on whatever happens to be hot at the moment or is produced by the biggest expert. If it doesn’t match your approach or culture, it won’t come across as credible.

What are you enjoying most in your work now?

I love being back advising clients directly. In my most recent job as a COO, I was more involved with the big picture and advising the staff members who were advising clients, so it’s great to be working with clients directly again. I also love the problem-solving aspect—I love helping clients resolve problems, whether they’re existing problems or ones that might be looming just around the corner.

Visit Fine Point Consulting for more information about the great tools and services we use to help businesses like Clark & Gotzler succeed.

In our continuing series on Leaders and Influencers, we chatted with Heather Wentler about entrepreneurship as it relates to her roles as co-founder and executive director of The Doyenne Group, and as founder of Fractal, a STEAM enrichment program for kids.

Heather Wentler

Tell us about The Doyenne Group.

Amy Gannon and I founded The Doyenne Group in 2012 after having the same experience of attending entrepreneurial events around Madison and noticing a lack of women in the room, both as attendees and as panelists/speakers. We knew there are lots of women starting and running businesses in Madison, but we weren’t sure why they weren’t engaging in the ecosystem.

Doyenne focuses on four key areas to support women entrepreneurs of various sectors and stages of running their businesses: 1.) Highlight entrepreneurs and give voice to their experiences, 2.) Build the network within the community so we’re all working towards making Madison the best it can be for women entrepreneurs, 3.) Support entrepreneurs through our programming and partner programs in the community, and 4.) Fund ventures through our Evergreen Fund to provide grants and small equity investments for those just starting out. Doyenne has a mission of expanding to provide support statewide and make Madison one of the top cities in the nation for women entrepreneurs by 2020.

What’s the single most important change you’d like to see to encourage more innovation and entrepreneurship in our community?

The biggest change I would like to see in our community is the way an entrepreneur is characterized or stereotyped. In Madison we focus a lot on Tech and Biotech startups, which also means those on track for venture funding. I meet with entrepreneurs every day, and when I ask why they aren’t engaged with certain activities within the community they say it’s because they feel that they “don’t fit in.” Doyenne really emphasizes that being a successful entrepreneur is defined by the goals of a business. It doesn’t matter if your business is something that you want to start and run for the next 30 years or if you’re developing a technology to sell within the next 3-5 years; each business that is launched and grows within our community is a plus for everyone and provides economic impact to move us all forward.

What book do you think every aspiring entrepreneur should read and why?

I don’t have one book that I think everyone should read. Honestly I’m not a big book reader, partially because the traditional idea of sitting and reading a book from cover to cover doesn’t work for me. Each book that an entrepreneur reads (even if it’s only certain parts/chapters) should be meaningful and somehow reflect how it pertains to either what they’re doing or what they want to do. So, I don’t read books but I do read lots of blogs, articles, and research! Knowing your market, trends within the market, your competitors, and the new ideas coming out of them helps keep your company agile and gives you the competitive edge.

What do you find most interesting and rewarding in your position as Founder of Fractal?

Fractal is the most daily rewarding experience I’ve ever had. When I was teaching traditionally I didn’t always feel like I could be myself or engage my students the way I wanted to meet their needs, and when I would try, I would get backlash from others. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever want to go into business, let alone start a business. But the moment that I was able to make the decisions and teach the way I feel best serves those in our community was like a weight lifted off my shoulders. I enjoyed teaching again. I love seeing how each participant brings his/her own ideas, approaches, and creativity to Fractal’s programming. Many of the kids I work with are either categorized at school as Talented & Gifted or At-Risk/Remedial, so being able to provide a space where they get to learn from each other on their own terms and at their own pace, in a way that’s meaningful to their lives, is the most rewarding feeling I’ve ever experienced.

Visit Fine Point Consulting for more information about the great tools and services we use to help organizations like The Doyenne Group succeed.